highway
Americannoun
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a main road, especially one between towns or cities.
the highway between Los Angeles and Seattle.
- Synonyms:
- interstate, thruway, freeway, expressway
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any public road or waterway.
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any main or ordinary route, track, or course.
noun
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a public road that all may use
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law a main road, esp one that connects towns or cities
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a main route for any form of transport
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a direct path or course
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of highway
before 900; Middle English heyewei, Old English heiweg. See high, way 1
Compare meaning
How does highway compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A highway is a busy road with many lanes. Highways are usually the quickest route for driving between one city and another. Highways were originally built to connect cities and towns, and since they're wide and have high speed limits, they decreased the travel time. Highways are always considered public land, and they're usually maintained by the individual state. The Old English precursor was heahweg, "main street" or "main way." The word high has often been used to mean "main" or "major," especially when describing a street.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Along the highway from Ankara airport to the city centre, municipal workers have been planting flowers and installing giant billboards to shield views of dilapidated homes and poorer neighbourhoods.
From Barron's • Jul. 4, 2026
California purchased the swath of rocky cliffs and windswept shoreline in the 1960s to expand the construction of Highway 1 and create a scenic viewpoint for highway travelers, according to a California Coastal Commission report.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2026
The Federal Highway Act was designed to create 41,000 miles of highway, making it the largest U.S. public works program at the time, and authorized $33 billion of road building over 13 years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
Videos and posts circulating online show international fans reacting to oversized portions, large-format retail stores, and highway travel stops that feel closer to entertainment complexes than convenience stores.
From Salon • Jun. 28, 2026
It lets us out through the column of a bridge on a two-lane highway.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
